Australia in the Vietnam war - the Battle of Long Tan

[Jupiter551]

After hearing a clip of Ann Coulter state that Canada sent troops to Vietnam (they didn't) and appeared doubtful that Australia did, I wondered - how many others weren't aware?

The Vietnam war was so prevalent in US culture, with films, books, tv series, and of course the widespread protests, but I've never, ever, seen Aussies represented in those.

So I thought I'd make those who aren't, aware of one of the most interesting and hard-won battles of the war.

One of the most famous battles (in Australian military history) occurred on 18th August 1966. The 108 man D company, 6 RAR clashed with the 275th regiment Viet Cong, supported by an NVA battalion and a battalion of NVA artillery. D Company directly faced at least 1000 enemy soldiers, with 1500-2500 total enemy soldiers involved in the assault. D Company lost 18 men, with 24 wounded, but killed 245, wounded approximately 350 (not counting those the enemy were able to evacuate). After fighting from approximately 11 am until reinforcements arrived in the early hours of the 19th, the Vietnamese forces withdrew.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Tan

Aussie SASR in Vietnam with their modified rifles they nicknamed 'The Bitch' (self-modified sawn-off SLR L1A1 (aka FN-FAL) 7.62mm modded to full auto fire w/extended mag and underslung grenade launcher - sounded like a 50cal made the M16 look like a bit of a girl's weapon )

 

[Red7227]

After hearing a clip of Ann Coulter state that Canada sent troops to Vietnam (they didn't) and appeared doubtful that Australia did, I wondered - how many others weren't aware?

Who is Ann Coulter?

 

[Nordling]

After hearing a clip of Ann Coulter state that Canada sent troops to Vietnam (they didn't) and appeared doubtful that Australia did, I wondered - how many others weren't aware?

Who is Ann Coulter?

She's a strange species of slime posing as a political pundit. She actually argued with a Canadian about whether or not Canada served in the Vietnam War.

 

[Shaun__]

That was such a disgusting war. Did you know people are still being affected by agent orange even after all this time? Link The USA never had any reason to be over there supporting a dictator.

Martin Luther King said, “And who are we supporting in Vietnam today? It's a man by the name of general Ky who fought with the French against his own people, and who said on one occasion that the greatest hero of his life is Hitler. This is who we are supporting in Vietnam today. Oh, our government and the press generally won't tell us these things, but God told me to tell you this morning.”

 

[Jupiter551]

That was such a disgusting war. Did you know people are still being affected by agent orange even after all this time? Link The USA never had any reason to be over there supporting a dictator.

Martin Luther King said, “And who are we supporting in Vietnam today? It's a man by the name of general Ky who fought with the French against his own people, and who said on one occasion that the greatest hero of his life is Hitler. This is who we are supporting in Vietnam today. Oh, our government and the press generally won't tell us these things, but God told me to tell you this morning.”

Yeah you don't need to tell me that, I've visited the war museum in Ho Chih Minh city, it's name is translated into English as 'The museum of Chinese and American War Crimes' and the atrocities committed (on both sides) are inexcusable. Mind you, the same could be said for the Korean war.

 

[southsamurai]

ya know, the aussies never seem to get credit for their roles in helping out other nations. they've had a looong history of supporting both the US and england in military and humanitarian actions

 

[camstory]

That was such a disgusting war. Did you know people are still being affected by agent orange even after all this time? Link The USA never had any reason to be over there supporting a dictator.

Martin Luther King said, “And who are we supporting in Vietnam today? It's a man by the name of general Ky who fought with the French against his own people, and who said on one occasion that the greatest hero of his life is Hitler. This is who we are supporting in Vietnam today. Oh, our government and the press generally won't tell us these things, but God told me to tell you this morning.”

Yes, I have a friend of about 12 years now, who is one of these ppl affected by agent orange. When I first met him he made mention of his fingers cramping and being stiff. It was a bother to him bc he is/was a tinkerer. Makes all fashion of stuff, from a portable spool system to hold 5 rolls of wrapping paper W/cutting wheel to shear the paper off, to a 12volt fishing cart made out of a cut down shopping cart and knobby Dollie wheels and tires. He told me that the doctors at the VA would not/could not officially say, but had told him that yes it was from the defoliant agent orange. His fingers on one hand were worse than the other but not noticeable when I first met him. Since he has had the fingers on the bad hand broken and reset, and then when they could do no more and two were obstructing the other two they cut them away. The other hand is now doing what the first one did, and he can do next to nothing that requires any dexterity. Griping the steering wheel of his truck is becoming so ify it is a danger to drive.

About 5 years ago they officially decided he and a bunch of others were affected by agent orange, and paid some tiny reparations with more to follow. He said he was lucky to get the $900? or maybe it was $1300 I don't remember but that it was a ridiculous amount. He has got no more and when I asked him last he said they were delaying it till everyone was dead so they didn't have to pay it. I'm not sure he is wrong.

Also this man reads at maybe a first grade level if that. He made a glass name plate for my room mate Andrea, or "Andy". He had used letters he had cut from a thin white vinyl with a stencil, and then had glued them to the glass placard. A day or two after he had given it to Andy, she asked me to come look at it. At first I could see it was not right but it took me a second to see the N had been glued on from the wrong side making it appear upside down.

Some might argue that these are the exact right ppl to draft to fight our wars for us. I think there is something, very, very, sad and wrong about it. It breaks my heart to think about.

The quote from the MLK speech above is one of his lesser know, but my favorite. I think it runs about 15-20 min audio on youtube, "Why I'm oppose the war in Vietnam" I think ? If you have not heard it, you should listen to it. I can't imagine a better way to spend a half an hour. It is a good example of where the mans heart was and that it was not incumbered by anything other than what he believed to be right.

 

[camstory]

ya know, the aussies never seem to get credit for their roles in helping out other nations. they've had a looong history of supporting both the US and england in military and humanitarian actions

Yes, almost as if they are taken for granted.

 

[Crumb]

After hearing a clip of Ann Coulter state that Canada sent troops to Vietnam (they didn't) and

but, reportedly, over 20,000 Canadians volunteered to serve in the US military

 

[CallMeWilliam]

After hearing a clip of Ann Coulter state that Canada sent troops to Vietnam (they didn't) and

but, reportedly, over 20,000 Canadians volunteered to serve in the US military

Ann Coulter is a whore...

The Canadian Gov. never sent to men/women to fight, however as Crumb mentioned between 20-30k did try to volunteer see http://www.canadianmilitary.page.tl/-Vietnam.htm for more information

 

[EdgarAllenWhoa]

After hearing a clip of Ann Coulter state that Canada sent troops to Vietnam (they didn't) and

but, reportedly, over 20,000 Canadians volunteered to serve in the US military

Ann Coulter is a...

The Canadian Gov. never sent to men/women to fight, however as Crumb mentioned between 20-30k did try to volunteer see http://www.canadianmilitary.page.tl/-Vietnam.htm for more information

I had a older friend who was part of the men that went down to volunteer in the Vietnam war. At the time he believed in the whole "domino effect" and had a real fear of the "angry red menace" that threatened the whole world. This sort of thinking prevailed amongst a number of young men here in Canada in south western Ontario in fact during that time period.
He crossed over to Detroit at went to the closest recruitment and signed up Army/Infantry. He spent a year in training and then was shipped out.He arrived inland and was sitting in a bar in Laos when Nixon came on the TV " we have no troops in Laos" speech. Four months later they were on a recon mission when they were attacked. He saw his sergeant go down after he himself had been hit. With two broken ankles he dragged the wounded man 1/2 mile back to get him help. The sergeant he dragged back never made it. He spent the rest of the war recovering and making sure that he got sent home.
Once in a while he talked about it but not often and he told me that story only after we had drunk a lot of single malt scotch. A lot of details are short but I tend not to press him to much on it. His wife gave me a heads up on it and not to press him about those 2-3 years because after he got home he went and "got lost " for a while.

As per Anne Coulter...she is what she is. A media talking bobble head who feels saying outrageous statements make book sales and increase her public speaking fees. Only reason why I don't call her a wh*** is because at least a wh*** is supposed to make you feel good.

 

[stu2]

Very valid point and would like to add all volunteers no draft or compulsory for any one in OZ.

Counting the days till my little brother gets back from a place I am sure some locals are not that friendly to him. I am very proud of my brother he is going out and doing his job. Right wrong don’t matter they go do it, Starbucks cheats on tax but you never take it out on the girl/boy at the counter.

Support your forces they are real just ordinary girls and boys doing there jobs.

Amen may they all come home.

 

[Just Me]

The government recognizes that many diseases and health problems can be attributed to exposure to agent orange during the Viet Nam war. The VA has a list of diseases that veterans can be compensated for. Some, including diabetes mellitus type 2, are fairly recent additions to the list. http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/diseases.asp#veterans

My father was being compensated for heart disease and diabetes. He passed away last year from usual interstitial pneumonia/pulmonary fibrosis. There is no known cause for this disease but it would not be a stretch to say that his time in Viet Nam could have contributed to it.

 

[Empyrean]

Les Hiddins!

Man I loved watching Bush Tucker Man as a kid. Then when I grew up and tried to find that TV series again I read up on the guy and found out he did two tours in Vietnam. I seem to recall that he has been active in veterans affairs as well on behalf of the Australian Vietnam vets. But my impression is that that the Australian participation is not common knowledge outside of Oz.

Of course, something that gets even less press is the South Korean participation - and they rotated some 300.000 soldiers through that place (compared to Australia's 60.000 or so).

Seeing as that war spawned a whole Hollywood genre of its own, the Vietnam war movie, I am curious to know if there have been any notable Australian movies made with the Vietnam war as a backdrop?

 

[Jupiter551]

Very valid point and would like to add all volunteers no draft or compulsory for any one in OZ.

Well there was a draft during the vietnam war, and ww1 and 2. Which in no way reflects poorly on the men who were drafted and served mind you.

Les Hiddins!

Man I loved watching Bush Tucker Man as a kid. Then when I grew up and tried to find that TV series again I read up on the guy and found out he did two tours in Vietnam. I seem to recall that he has been active in veterans affairs as well on behalf of the Australian Vietnam vets. But my impression is that that the Australian participation is not common knowledge outside of Oz.

Of course, something that gets even less press is the South Korean participation - and they rotated some 300.000 soldiers through that place (compared to Australia's 60.000 or so).

Seeing as that war spawned a whole Hollywood genre of its own, the Vietnam war movie, I am curious to know if there have been any notable Australian movies made with the Vietnam war as a backdrop?

Yeah Les is a legend, the original Bear Grylls without the fancy editing or motel sleepovers. Wrote the Aus Army survival manual still used today.

As far as common knowledge, it's true a lot of American general population don't know we were there, but their vets do, and the Vietnamese sure as hell did. The Viet Cong called the SASR 'Ma Rung', which translates to 'phantoms of the jungle'. Their kill ratio was 598:1 (for comparison sake SEALs had a 200:1 ratio), with 1 trooper KIA, 1 MIA and 3 killed by friendly fire. They were jungle warfare experts after having fought in Malaysia against the Indonesians in 1965. The Vietnamese had a bounty of US$5000 on any SASR captured dead or alive. No bounty was ever collected.

Since then they've fought in Rwanda, East Timor, Afghanistan, and Iraq and throughout their history they've lost considerably more men in training than they ever have in combat.

 

[BullFrogBlues]

Seeing as that war spawned a whole Hollywood genre of its own, the Vietnam war movie, I am curious to know if there have been any notable Australian movies made with the Vietnam war as a backdrop?

I can only think of one, The Odd Angry Shot, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079652/

There is a very good documentary called "The Battle of Long Tang" http://www.battleoflongtan.com/

 

[Shaun__]

Les Hiddins!

Man I loved watching Bush Tucker Man as a kid. Then when I grew up and tried to find that TV series again I read up on the guy and found out he did two tours in Vietnam. I seem to recall that he has been active in veterans affairs as well on behalf of the Australian Vietnam vets. But my impression is that that the Australian participation is not common knowledge outside of Oz.

Of course, something that gets even less press is the South Korean participation - and they rotated some 300.000 soldiers through that place (compared to Australia's 60.000 or so).

Seeing as that war spawned a whole Hollywood genre of its own, the Vietnam war movie, I am curious to know if there have been any notable Australian movies made with the Vietnam war as a backdrop?

The South Koreans were in my high school history book.

 

[Jupiter551]

I can only think of one, The Odd Angry Shot, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079652/

lol I love the synopsis on IMDB

In between drinking cans of Fosters beer, Australian soldiers tread on a few landmines, and generally experience the war in Vietnam.

 

[camstory]

Just finished the documentary, after 3 or 4 starts. I am glad I was persistent. War is never a thing to be proud of, especially this one, it is my humble opinion. Regardless, every Australian rightfully need not be a bit humble in their pride of the Battle of Long Tan.

Respectfully your.